BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It was a long day for the Geneva College men's soccer team, as its game with Case Western Reserve on Wednesday evening got pushed back, and then moved to the football stadium, due to thunderstorms and a power outage on campus.  Unfortunately for the Golden Tornadoes, the match did not have a happy ending, as Case Western Reserve scored with three seconds remaining in regulation to pick up a last-second victory, 1-0.  Case Western Reserve improved to 3-1-1, while Geneva fell to 2-3.

The game was originally scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time down at the Merriman Athletic Complex, but after a lightning delay that pushed back the start of the women's soccer match with Franciscan earlier in the evening, followed by the women's game going into double overtime, the men's game was moved to Reeves Field and the start time pushed back to 8:00 p.m.

Once the game finally got underway, Geneva applied the early pressure, and it had a couple of early shots that went wide.  Over the remainder of the half, both teams settled down and had opportunities on the hot and muggy evening.  Neither team could find a goal, though, as things headed into halftime.  Geneva did outshoot Case Western Reserve, 9-4, in the first half.

Both teams continued to have opportunities into the second half in the back and forth game, with both team likely feeling like they should have capitalized on at least one or two of those chances.  Unfortunately, with the game seconds away from overtime, Case Western took advantage of a corner kick that bounced around in the box, eventually falling at the Spartans' Garrett Winter's feet, and he deposited the ball into the upper corner of the net with 3.5 seconds remaining to send Geneva to a heartbreaking defeat.

The final scoresheet showed a very even match.  Geneva finished with a 15-12 advantage in shots, while Case Western Reserve had a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.  Sophomore Cole Sauer (Middleburg, Pa./Midd-West), led the offense with three shots, while junior goalkeeper Nate Burkhart (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) made five saves.

Geneva heads out onto the road for the first time this season when it travels to La Roche College on Saturday for a match starting at 3:00 p.m.


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 115 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the top engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.